Orlando convention the week and beyond

There were many things that happen this week at convention.
There was the walk which raised money for ACB. That was neat and
I am certainly glad I took part. There were programs on
rehabilitation services, information access, environmental
access, legislation and more. We had some of the cleanest
elections I have ever seen in my years going to ACB conventions.
The SASI committee had a program on communications and assistive
technology assessments, a program which was not well attended but
which had good information. There was a social for this
committee that night. This was better attended than the
program.

The subject of residential schools was a hot one as it should be.
We can't afford to lose these schools as a viable option.

There was a program on the importance of Braille. This
dove--tailed nicely with the one on residential schools as
Braille is an important skill and one which, in my opinion, is
probably better obtained at a residential school.

Each year this convention energizes me to go home and get busy.
I and others must keep it going throughout the year or the value
of the program will be lost and the time spent here will be
wasted. I give up too much for that to be the case. Many are
looking to me for leadership` especially in the Illinois
deaf-blind community. I can't let them down as many of them,
certainly not all, don't have the skills for whatever reason to
assume leadership roles. Is the pressure on in Illinois? You
bet it is but I do want to move ahead as the db community badly
needs services but nothing happens without leadership.

also, where there are opportunities, we must work together. If
we don't we won't achieve what we need in the way of services.
If we don't work together, we could lose much of what we have;
and this is one person who does not want to see that happen.

It's time for all of us who were at convention to come home, roll
up our sleeves and get to work. You'll see a lot more from me in
other places. Ever heard the phrase, "it's now or never"? I
have and it's so true I think. Let's all get to work.

You picked a fine time to leave me

You might wonder what the title means and why I chose it. Read
on and you will find out just how appropriate the title is.

Last night I was sitting in the Candidates' forum at the ACB
convention. My right hearing aid was working when I went in; but
by the time I left, it was not working to the point that sound
was barely coming out of it if at all. This is a pain because it
makes it harder to hear other people, not to mention localize
sound. It also made it hard to hear others when I was using an
ALD at convention. What a major pain in what you sit on.

This morning I called my audiologist's office and N answered the
phone. I told her what was going on and inquired as to whether I
could get an appointment on Monday. I was told that this would
not be possible due to the fact that one of the audiologists is
on vacation. The other audiologist did not have a longer
appointment until Tuesday the 21st. I chose to keep my current
appointment. N thought that the problem might be moisture due to
humidity but upon further reflection I am not sure this is the
case. What I forgot to tell N is that I have been in Florida
during the summer, having been in Jacksonville in 2006 for the
same convention, and I did not have any problems while there. I
had the current hearing aids back then as well. There's
something going on and I intend to get to the bottom of it next
week. I didn't think of this when I was on the phone with N this
morning.

Tonight the left one started misbehaving and I also intend to get
to the bottom of that one because, as my husband said, these
things shouldn't be this sensitive to humidity and moisture.

I've had nothing but trouble with the right one for about the
last month. I'm in the process of going through the lovely
process of replacing an ear mold on the right side. What fun!
(hahahah!) That problem also started while I was out of town but
that wasn't out of state. This one was. What is it about
traveling anyway?

Well that hearing aid did pick a fine time to leave me. And now
you know the reason for the title and so much more.

ACB conventiohn Day one

Well, we are just about through Day one of the ACB convention.
As anyone who has been to this convention or any other convention
or conference knows, it flies by fast. It's about 5 PM as I
write this.

What have I done today? I started my day nice and early with the
walk/run for ACB. This felt good and I actually did not mind
getting up for a good cause. I actually completed the walk too,
something I was not sure I would do. I got a silver medal for
the amount of pledges I collected too. In doing this walk, we
let the public know about the capabilities of blind people.
That's a good feeling.

When I got back from that, I went and had lunch after taking care
of other matters. After lunch, I attended a board meeting of the
ACB where important organizational business was discussed.

After this, I attended a program on access to information. We
talked about web 2.0, facebook and twitter. We also talked about
accessible MP3 players. Then we discussed the 21st Century
Communications and Video Accessibility Act, H.R. 3101. We were
asked to contact our Representatives in Congress to get them to
co-sponsor this legislation. ML wanted a commitment from all in
attendance to do this and I am one who will do it as I don't want
to be left behind as communications evolves in the 21st century.
If you think there's nothing in this legislation for the db
community, you are wrong. There is the provision for up to $10
million a year so that our community will have access to the
communications equipment we need in order to decrease isolation
and increase independence. This also calls for full hearing aid
compatibility for mobile phones and itnernet-based devices which
will help a segment of our community. I personally urge all
readers to do as I am going to do and contact your Representative
to urge him or her to co-sponsor this important legislation. The
more co-sponsors we have the better chance we have of getting
this legislation passed. I will post the key provisions
separately later.

This is the start to a very busy and productive week in Orlando.
Stay tuned for more from Orlando.